UCF gets prestigious grant from The National Academy of Sciencest

Kevin D. Belfield of the University of Central Florida Chemistry Department  received a prestigious grant from The National Academy of Sciences under Phase4 of the Pakistan-US Science and Technology Cooperation Program. The proposal from Belfield in cooperation with Dr. Aamer Saeed of Quaid-i-Azam University was one of only 28 selected from the 270 applications.

Kelly Robbins, Senior Program Officer of The National Academies, said that the “project was among the strongest in the excellent group of proposals.”

This grant is significant because it will establish the first well-equipped organic semiconducting materials lab in Pakistan. The lab will be at the Department of Chemistry, Quaid‐I‐Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan.  The grant also provided funding for fundamental photovoltaic materials and device research in Belfield’s laboratory at UCF.

The participating graduate students from Pakistan will receive important training at UCF, including selected advanced materials science and courses and laboratory training.

“Achieving this goal will enhance the quality and capacity of higher education and research in materials and polymer science and technology in Pakistan along with aiding in the discovery of new polymeric materials for photovoltaic applications,” Belfield said.